CAPEL GOLF COURSE MAINTENANCE

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Welcome to the Capel Golf Club's Course Maintenance Dept. We hope to give an insight into maintenance activities, share up to date course news and course care tips for members, guests and visitors.

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Sunday, December 4, 2016

During the week I had the pleasure of attending the 2016 Turf Industry Awards,

I would like to congratulate Ben as a graduate of the 2016 Apprentice Class of 2016 and for being awarded the 2016 Lecturers Choice Award selected from all sports turf apprentices, Golf, Bowls and Sports turf. This is a massive achievement for Ben, recognising his dedication and commitment to his academic study to become a future Turf Manager over the past 4 years.

Well done Ben ! We are very proud of you . I would also like to take this opportunity to announce Ben, in recognition of his hard work and dedication to both his studies and work on course has recently been promoted to Assistant Superintendent. I am sure he will continue to be an asset to the maintenance team and Capel Golf Club as he adjust to his new role while still providing the same exemplary service he has become known for. Thank you and Happy Hooking.

Saturday, November 26, 2016

The fairway renovations went well, recovery is already well underway with all outcomes achieved. We are finishing off fertilising the fairways balancing the manual irrigation system with demand and once complete will have the fairways in good condition leading into the summer months. One issue I need to address is the appearance of dry areas (dry patch ) on the back 9 fairways, this is not due to the coring but as a result of the manual irrigation system and set speed pumps with antiquated piping leading to inefficient irrigation.

While coring does drop the moisture levels temporarily, it is the less than efficient irrigation system on the back 9 which can not quickly replace that moisture loss that results in these dry areas whenever we carry out works such as renovations, large scale spraying or any maintenance requiring follow up irrigation. The combination of the manual system, set speed pumps and small old weak pipping in places mean we need to shut off the entire system until all fairways are complete rather than irrigating each fairway or sections individually and when we do irrigate it takes some 16 hours to cover the large area. This often means some areas of the fairways are not irrigated for up to a week leading to these dry areas, compounded more so where coverage is insufficient requiring hoses to water the "gaps" of coverage missed areas. The set speed pumps output a given volume regardless of demand, the smaller older pipes in sections across the course are week points that if we continue to use the system when a section of the course cannot be irrigated for any reason we risk a pressure build in these areas with the likely outcome of breaks and further down time. Good news is this is only temporary, it may take a few weeks but once the irrigation cycles are being routinely completed with a huge draw on labor, recovery will be swift and we can reap the positive longer term benefits from these very important works.

Monday, November 21, 2016

A great start to the working week with the start of coring the back 9 fairways, after 12 hours we have completed the coring brushing and clearing of 5 fairways and cored 6.

Tomorrow we hope to have the coring complete prior to the competition players catching up, leaving the brushing and clearing to do. Scroll cutting cleared fairways will also be attended. Just a reminder, please do not hit up on staff unless called or out of the way during this important work. We do apologise for any inconvenience caused by disruption and we hope you understand, the aeration of the fairways has many advantages, allowing air and water into the profile, alleviating compaction, encouraging micro organism to breakdown organic matter, release of nutrients are just some of the major benefits. This provides us with a base to have healthy strong turf surfaces for you enjoyment.

Sunday, November 13, 2016

Hopefully the glitches which have prevented me posting have been sorted, thank you for your patience over that extended time. Greens have recovered from the October renovations very quickly and were being cut back at normal height of 2.8mm just a few weeks after. One issue we are having with the greens at the moment is a flush of Poa annua seed head, generally we manage to control 40 to 60 % of seed head formation through the peak time limiting its impact, normally just prior to our renovations through certain product applications. Unfortunately as a result of the unusual cooler wetter weather which extended through September / October this delayed the trigger of the timing of the peak seed formation into the recovery period for the greens at a point where we need to cease product application for the poa in order for the Bent Grass to recover sufficiently from renovations as the product does regulate Bent grass growth as well. We are taking measures to reduce its impact through brooming greens prior to mowing to remove extra seed head and grooming greens to thin them out a little, product application will resume shortly which will improve the present situation. That said the greens are healthy and we are happy with where they are at present. We are dealing with a few other issues due to the extended cooler whether we experienced through Sept / Oct, one of which is the Bush growth is continuing further into the season than normal, usually ceased mid Oct, this places extra demand on staff time due to the extra cutting, I would like to thank Ken Lowth for giving up his time Mondays to slash areas around the course, his efforts are much appreciated and help the staff immensely, thank you Ken . Bush growth and moisture levels also effects the numbers of mosquitoes on course as the longer grass and moisture encourages them to hang around longer than usual. This resulted in an extra peak in numbers on course and through the general area, by the end of October November which required added spraying which was carried to control them to reduce numbers to nuisance levels only. Numbers should now be dropping significantly though we will continue to monitor numbers to asses if further spraying is required. Together lets Fight the Bite http://www.fightthebite.com.au/With the extra work created and still short staffed due to TAFE and Leave commitments some construction works have put put on hold are progressing at a much slower rate the 6th tee right side extension is one such example that has been put on hold for a month. This work is of low priority out of play. The entrance side has been completed thanks to Jetline (wall) Monday volunteers (path) and staff for the tee top repair and leveling. It shows what can be accomplished by various groups of people who share a common goal.

Finally, next week we will commence Back 9 Fairway renovations, we will be hallow coring as we have had a great deal of success over the past few years using this method of renovations. Major surface disruption will result which may require preferred lies( match decision) and works will continue through the competition days, though we will endeavor to limit disruption to play, please do not hit up on contractors or staff unless they are well out of the way or you are called, this is very important for safety.

Monday, May 2, 2016

Only 4 weeks after major core aeration and the greens have recovered phenomenally, greens will remain at this height with increased cutting. Thanks again to the staff and volunteers for helping us achieve the success from renovations that we have.Some sanding of perimeters will be completed this week, no disruption to play will result, the sanded areas will not effect ball roll.

Saturday, April 16, 2016

Thank you to all the volunteers who turned our for the coring, it was very appreciated.

The greens are making a very strong recovery, we commenced morning cuts late this week at 4mm, and with all things going well will be reducing the heights early this week and possibly again by the weekend t be very close to normal cutting heights. Some areas where we controlled Saltene and Couch grass will be a great deal slower to recover, these areas, mainly encroaching from the perimeter will require seeding and a further sanding in the coming weeks, Generally though the greens are ahead of normal recovery times and members will benefit from that. Looking ahead, along with the final touches for the greens we will be seeding and sanding high wear areas on some green surrounds for winter cover over the next week or so.

Monday, February 15, 2016

The course tolerated the extreme heat last week very well with only a few minor issues with the greens, most problems were on the back 9 fairways and roughs mainly from cart tracks and wilted areas due to the inadequate manual irrigation system on the back 9. Most of the Back 9 Fairways could not be irrigated since the Friday before and then when they were in the heat, taking 14 hours to complete one cycle, despite all our efforts most of the irrigation applied was ineffective with the result easy to see. The areas affected will recover in time.This week is also set to be a difficult one with the heat, although temperatures are expected to be slightly lower wind is expected to be strong and gusty, this will have more of an adverse impact than last week with the wind contributing to drying out the surface areas but more importantly also impacting on Irrigation Uniformity. Some dry patch areas are to be expected under these conditions, though we will endeavor to limit any issues within the available resources at our disposal. The 2nd Men's black tee is growing in nicely and is looking fantastic at this early stage. With the majority of the
work complete we are commencing focus on Bunker Bases, at this stage we
are only aiming for 1, possibly 2 bunkers per week to be complete until
we are well outside our peak maintenance period and irrigation season at which point more
bunkers will be attended.

With fresh sand being used the bunkers
completed will be soft and loose, there is a risk of plugged lies till the sand
is consolidated. For this reason any bunker that has work carried out
will be G.U.R for a few days. A reminder the G.U.R is optional unless otherwise stated.